Tour de France withdrawal symptoms

When three weeks of Tour de France tv coverage finished on Sunday, there was suddenly a hole in my life and I found myself missing that daily fix of cycling.
It was great to see a British winner for the second year in a row with Chris Froome taking the yellow jersey. He is a fitting winner as he seems to be a polite and sincere person. Just what is needed after all the recent controversy in the sport. He certainly earned the win with the help of his team.
I will particularly miss some of the great names of the contenders that were being mentioned in the tv coverage. Some of my favourites were Lars Boom, Bram Tankink, Rein Taaramae, Blel Kadri and Mikel Astarloza.
I had watched the ITV4 coverage with Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen doing the commentary.

After that splendid finale in Paris, I was hoping that there would be the last day of the second Ashes test to watch on the Monday. But no, the Aussies were so bad that England went 2-0 up in the series on the fourth day.

I wonder how many of my favourite names will be taking part in the Tour Down Under.

Peewit

UK weather improves

Having been back in England for seven weeks we seem to be getting some proper summer weather now. Initially it was very wintery despite having delayed my return from Oz by six weeks to try to miss the English extended winter of dull, cold and wet.
Anyway we now have some decent sunshine and the opportunity to watch cricket, and some sporting events on tv such as the Tour de France.

I decided to sell my Samsung WB850F compact camera as I was no longer using it. Having paid over 300 GBP for it, I thought that I would put it up for auction on Ebay. The starting price was £5 and at the end of the seven day period it reached £115 having received a good number of bids.
There was no reaction from the winning bidder for a day, then I got an email saying that they had made a mistake and were pulling out of the deal. I was surprised that Ebay allowed this but they do. With 24 hours since the winning bid, I found that other bidders had already made other arrangements and so I was going have to keep my camera.
I needed to reclaim my Ebay selling commission but Ebay will not let you open a case for two days. Then they will not let you conclude the case for a further four days even though it was quite clear that the sale was gone.
You would have thought that I could leave negative feedback for the bidder that won the auction and then reneged on the deal, but no, Ebay apply no penalty to the bidder and I cannot leave any feedback.
So what do we all learn from this :-
1) Selling on Ebay is risky as the winning bidder can pull out of the sale with no penalty or negative feedback.
2) Opening a case within Ebay is a slow and unhelpful process.

It is hard to feel anything other than that of being taken for a sucker by Ebay.

I'll be using Gumtree in future. No fees or commission with them.

Last week I went to spend a couple of days in Weymouth with a friend from college and my early days as an EMI apprentice. The weather was mixed, but I enjoyed the trip. I noticed a town called Affpuddle while en-route. I am not sure that I would want that name as part of my address.

Now to enjoy the next few sunny days.

Peewit

Thumbs up Panasonic TZ30, thumbs down Samsung WB850F

It has been a pleasure over the last couple of months to be able to go out and about with a camera that you know will just work when you want it to. I am talking about my new Panasonic TZ30 that is my ideal compact, travel zoom. I no longer have to plan to take a photo, knowing that with the now redundant Samsung WB850F that it would probably not start or would take out of focus photographs. During my year of using the WB850F it went back to the repairers three times and became so frustrating that I had to replace it.
So here are a few unplanned grab shots taken while visiting areas around Sydney.

Spotted overhead when I walked around Iron Cove. Iron Cove is also the place where a lot of people go for a run or cycle, being a flat path around the bay.

 

Tied up at the Overseas Passenger Terminal

 

Rabbits in Curraghbeena Park. Using zoom from my apartment window.

 

About to dismantle the mirror at the MCA.

 

Farm Cove

 

Crane at Garden Island

 

Manly ferries in Autumn sunshine.

 

Middle Head panorama.

 

Local favourite.

 

Sitting in the sun at Circular Quay.

 

The bus at North Head.

 

Fishing at Bradleys Head.

 

'Two up' on Anzac Day.

 

Cruise liners leave Port Jackson.

 

Looking towards Long Reef.

 

Steam at Sydney Central station.

 

Footplate controls.

 

Double banked for trip to Moss Vale.

 

Sails in the sunset.

 

Manly ferry.

 

You have been warned.

 

Sunbathing.

 

Footbridge.

 

Parsley Bay.

 

Vaucluse House.

 

Foggy morning.

 

The local ferry from my window.

 

At the Quarantine Station.

 

Many passengers from England came to journey's end here.

 

Strange.

 

Globes.

 

Observatory view.

 

Oh well, I have enjoyed this trip to NSW. Back to the UK next week and a british Summer I hope.
However, at the moment it is still a deal warmer in Sydney than it is in Surrey.

Peewit

A local walk

I decided to go for a local walk from Curraghbeena Point to Neutral Bay. I had not considered this walk before as it involves a little bit of pavement bashing as you approach Neutral Bay, whereas I normally prefer to stick to entirely foreshore tracks. However it was a lovely Saturday morning, on an Easter weekend, so while everyone else was heading off to the shops, I would do the walk knowing that there was a very nice cafe at my destination.

Just a few photos that I took on the day before my walk.

I thought that this lift was a little ambitious. 

 

The Manly ferry arrives at Circular Quay.

 

The AMP building.

 

Anyway, it was time for the walk. I was using a Garmin GPS unit to create a breadcrumb trail as well as my new TZ30 camera to take photos. Later I would then be able to upload the results onto the Everytrail website to create a record and route for my walk.

The walk started outside my apartment block at Curraghbeena Point.

 

Head up Raglan Street.

 

Cross over a footpath until you descend to Mosman Bay.

 

Lots of boats moored up here.

 

As you walk around the head of the bay, you can see some of lovely houses in this area.

 

Have just picked up the path to Cremorne Point.

 

Looking down the bay.

 

The footpath is tarmac all the way.

 

You pass the Old Cremorne ferry wharf.

 

The harbour is in the distance.

 

Tree lined route.

 

As you approach Cremorne Point the headland narrows and you can see across to the city.

 

I continued on right to the tip of the headland and looked back.

 

Sky-writing. It is Easter.

 

A bench with a view.

 

Back to the path.

 

Eventually when you have completed the walk around Cremorne Point you need to walk on roads but they are pleasant suburban locations.

 

The walk took just over an hour at a gentle stroll and here is the Thelma and Louise cafe at Neutral Bay. I found time for a coffee and croissant here.

 

A small beach at Neutral Bay.

 

Having completed my walk, I caught a ferry to Circular Quay. As you left Neutral Bay you could get a glimpse of the harbour bridge.

 

I had a sit down at Circular Quay while waiting for a ferry to take me back to South Mosman.

 

This busker was good and helped make the time sat in warm sunshine with a great view just fly by.

 

I am glad that I made the effort to do the walk.

Peewit